Jelena is an IB English A: Language and Literature Certified Teacher with 9 years in the classroom. She currently teaches IB English A at Nova International Schools in Skopje, Macedonia. She is a fervent fan of the IB English A course because of its eclectic approach to literature where not only do students delve into the ‘conventional’ literary forms such as poetry, drama, and prose writing, but they also explore a miscellany of non-literary text types, such as feature films and documentaries, magazine covers and ads, editorials and opinion pieces, street art, etc. Tackling such a broad range of texts, students develop an understanding of the relationship between language, literature, and other disciplines, and therefore, learn to transfer their critical thinking skills within, across, and beyond their classes.

Her session will look at how the official IB assessment components, particularly the Individual Oral (IA), can be broken down into diverse formative assessments throughout the year in order to hone students’ interpretive and analytical skills.